75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1777
A-Engrossed
House Bill 3153
Ordered by the House May 5
Including House Amendments dated May 5
Sponsored by Representative CLEM; Representative BOONE
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
{ - Prohibits establishment of utility facility in area zoned
for farm use, forest use or mixed farm and forest use if majority
of utility service provided by utility facility will be used
within urban growth boundary. - }
{ - Authorizes owner of land in area zoned for farm use,
forest use or mixed farm and forest use to refuse to grant
utility easement. Requires owner to agree to five-year license,
including mitigation agreement, for utility facility with
inflation-adjusted annual license fee and mitigation costs
provided to owner. - }
{ - Directs State Department of Agriculture or State Forestry
Department to oversee mitigation agreement and activities. - }
{ + Requires utility provider to make reasonable effort to
locate utility transmission and distribution lines in exclusive
farm use zones so that lines have least practical impact on
farming operations. + }
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to utility facilities; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 215.246 and 215.275.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 215.275 is amended to read:
215.275. (1) A utility facility established under ORS 215.213
(1)(d) or 215.283 (1)(d) is necessary for public service if the
facility must be sited in an exclusive farm use zone in order to
provide the service.
(2) To demonstrate that a utility facility is necessary, an
applicant for approval under ORS 215.213 (1)(d) or 215.283 (1)(d)
must show that reasonable alternatives have been considered and
that the facility must be sited in an exclusive farm use zone due
to one or more of the following factors:
(a) Technical and engineering feasibility;
(b) The proposed facility is locationally dependent. A utility
facility is locationally dependent if it must cross land in one
or more areas zoned for exclusive farm use in order to achieve a
reasonably direct route or to meet unique geographical needs that
cannot be satisfied on other lands;
(c) Lack of available urban and nonresource lands;
(d) Availability of existing rights of way;
(e) Public health and safety; and
(f) Other requirements of state or federal agencies.
(3) Costs associated with any of the factors listed in
subsection (2) of this section may be considered, but cost alone
may not be the only consideration in determining that a utility
facility is necessary for public service. Land costs shall not be
included when considering alternative locations for substantially
similar utility facilities. The Land Conservation and Development
Commission shall determine by rule how land costs may be
considered when evaluating the siting of utility facilities that
are not substantially similar.
{ + (4) If the criteria in subsections (2) and (3) of this
section are met, a utility provider shall make a reasonable
effort, in consultation with the owner of high-value farmland, as
defined in ORS 195.300, to locate utility transmission and
distribution lines so that the lines have the least practical
impact on the farming operation. + }
{ - (4) - } { + (5) + } The owner of a utility facility
approved under ORS 215.213 (1)(d) or 215.283 (1)(d) shall be
responsible for restoring, as nearly as possible, to its former
condition any agricultural land and associated improvements that
are damaged or otherwise disturbed by the siting, maintenance,
repair or reconstruction of the facility. Nothing in this section
shall prevent the owner of the utility facility from requiring a
bond or other security from a contractor or otherwise imposing on
a contractor the responsibility for restoration.
{ - (5) - } { + (6) + } The governing body of the county or
its designee shall impose clear and objective conditions on an
application for utility facility siting under ORS 215.213 (1)(d)
or 215.283 (1)(d) to mitigate and minimize the impacts of the
proposed facility, if any, on surrounding lands devoted to farm
use in order to prevent a significant change in accepted farm
practices or a significant increase in the cost of farm practices
on the surrounding farmlands.
{ - (6) - } { + (7) + } The provisions of subsections (2)
to { - (5) - } { + (6) + } of this section do not apply to
interstate natural gas pipelines and associated facilities
authorized by and subject to regulation by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission.
SECTION 2. ORS 215.246 is amended to read:
215.246. (1) The uses allowed under ORS 215.213 (1)(bb) and
215.283 (1)(y):
(a) Require a determination by the Department of Environmental
Quality, in conjunction with the department's review of a
license, permit or approval, that the application rates and site
management practices for the land application of reclaimed water,
agricultural or industrial process water or biosolids ensure
continued agricultural, horticultural or silvicultural production
and do not reduce the productivity of the tract.
(b) Are not subject to other provisions of ORS 215.213 or
215.283 or to the provisions of ORS 215.275 or 215.296.
(2) The use of a tract of land on which the land application of
reclaimed water, agricultural or industrial process water or
biosolids has occurred under this section may not be changed to
allow a different use unless:
(a) The tract is included within an acknowledged urban growth
boundary;
(b) The tract is rezoned to a zone other than an exclusive farm
use zone;
(c) The different use of the tract is a farm use as defined in
ORS 215.203; or
(d) The different use of the tract is a use allowed under:
(A) ORS 215.213 (1)(c), (e) to (g), (k), (m) to (q), (s) to
(u), (x), (z) or (aa);
(B) ORS 215.213 (2)(a) to (c), (i), (m) or (p) to (r);
(C) ORS 215.283 (1)(c), (e), (f), (k) to (o), (q) to (s), (u),
(w) or (x); or
(D) ORS 215.283 (2)(a), (j), (L) or (p) to (s).
(3) When a state agency or a local government makes a land use
decision relating to the land application of reclaimed water,
agricultural or industrial process water or biosolids under a
license, permit or approval by the Department of Environmental
Quality, the applicant shall explain in writing how alternatives
identified in public comments on the land use decision were
considered and, if the alternatives are not used, explain in
writing the reasons for not using the alternatives. The applicant
must consider only those alternatives that are identified with
sufficient specificity to afford the applicant an adequate
opportunity to consider the alternatives. A land use decision
relating to the land application of reclaimed water, agricultural
or industrial process water or biosolids may not be reversed or
remanded under this subsection unless the applicant failed to
consider identified alternatives or to explain in writing the
reasons for not using the alternatives.
(4) The uses allowed under this section include:
(a) The treatment of reclaimed water, agricultural or
industrial process water or biosolids that occurs as a result of
the land application;
(b) The establishment and use of facilities, including
buildings, equipment, aerated and nonaerated water impoundments,
pumps and other irrigation equipment, that are accessory to and
reasonably necessary for the land application to occur on the
subject tract;
(c) The establishment and use of facilities, including
buildings and equipment, that are not on the tract on which the
land application occurs for the transport of reclaimed water,
agricultural or industrial process water or biosolids to the
tract on which the land application occurs if the facilities are
located within:
(A) A public right of way; or
(B) Other land if the landowner provides written consent and
the owner of the facility complies with ORS 215.275 { - (4) - }
{ + (5) + }; and
(d) The transport by vehicle of reclaimed water or agricultural
or industrial process water to a tract on which the water will be
applied to land.
(5) Uses not allowed under this section include:
(a) The establishment and use of facilities, including
buildings or equipment, for the treatment of reclaimed water,
agricultural or industrial process water or biosolids other than
those treatment facilities related to the treatment that occurs
as a result of the land application; or
(b) The establishment and use of utility facility service lines
allowed under ORS 215.213 (1)(aa) or 215.283 (1)(x).
SECTION 3. { + Section 1 of this 2009 Act applies to a utility
facility established on or after the effective date of this 2009
Act. + }
----------